Sports Texoma

Whitewright head football coach and athletic director Dale Trompler resigned from those positions on Thursday, informing superintendent Steve Arthur to make the move official.

“It was totally his decision and we’ll have to move on from here,” Arthur said. “We’d like to have someone on staff by mid-May. That’s our goal.”

Several attempts to reach Trompler on his cell phone Thursday were unsuccessful.

Less than a year ago Trompler was hired to replace Chuck Lipsey, who took over the program at Bangs.

Arthur posted the opening immediately on Thursday to try and find a replacement, noting the 85 applicants last spring could fit in the mix but he is also committed to opening a new search.

“It’s a starting point but with as many coaching changes that take place every year, we’ll look at the current applicants,” Arthur said.

Whitewright went 2-8 this past season, finishing seventh in the eight-team District 11-2A and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

Trompler’s contract had been extended by a year in February — a customary move for administrators with that much time remaining on the contract — which would have taken him through the 2010-11 academic year.

In the season prior to leading the Tigers, Trompler was the offensive coordinator at Greenville.

Before that he was the head coach at Wolfe City, where he went 45-40 and won three straight district titles from 2005-07. In his final season there, Trompler led the Wolves to the region final — the school’s deepest playoff run ever and first postseason victory since 1979 — before losing to eventual champion Alto.

Two weeks ago Whitewright boys basketball head coach Phil Kempson resigned to become the girls athletic coordinator and head girls basketball coach at Quinlan Ford.